In our last article, we discussed how pool water chemistry and swimmers contribute to indoor air quality problems. Quickly, to recap: chlorine cleans the pool by oxidizing organics, and the result is disinfectant byproducts (DBPs)—the primary type being chloramines. Chloramines off-gas into the air and when they do, they stay low, right above the surface of the water in the “breathing zone.”

Chloramines are in the air, now what? At this point in the process, chloramines need to be dealt with as an air issue. To be clear, water chemistry still affects the production rate…but once airborne, trichloramines are not affected by the water chemistry anymore. So, for this article, our focus is on the natatorium and its air—not the pool and its water.

This article was originally posted on www.swimswam.com on February 25, 2014.